Drilling rig transportable in sections



Sept. 17, 1968 c. w. GWALTNEY ETAL 3, 5

DRILLING RIG TRANSPORTABLE IN SECTIONS Filed Dec. 27 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet l J'ck A. Ame/man Hen/y f: O/exa INVENTORS BY 2 Z W Z Char/e: W. Gwa/fney W/ Z; M-

Sept 7, 1968 c. w. GWALTNEY ETAL 3,401,757

DRILLING RIG TRANSPORTABLE} IN SECTIONS Filed Dec. 27, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 (700% A flare/W700 3 4 3 flew/1y O/s'xa INVENTORS Sept. 17, 1968 c. w. GWALTNEY ETAL 3,401,757

DRILLING RIG TRANSPORTABLE IN SECTIONS Filed Dec. 27 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEN 0R ATTOIPIVE VJ United States PatentOffice 3,401,757 Patented Sept. 17, 1968 3,401,757 DRILLING RIG TRANSPORTABLE IN SECTIONS Charles W. Gwaltney, Jack A. Amerman, and Henry F. Olexa, Houston, Tex., assignors to The Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 604,691 2 Claims. (Cl. 175-203) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A substructure and drawworks, plus drive means therefor, wherein the drawworks skid provides a part of the substructure, and the drawworks and drive means are in corporated into the substructure which is formed in suitable transportable sections.

Field of the invention This invention relates to drilling rigs, and more particularly to the substructure, drawworks and drive means therefor, which form a part of a drilling rig.

Summary of the invention A substructure and drawworks, plus drive means therefor, wherein the drawworks skid provides a part of the substructure, and the drawworks and drive means are incorporated into the substructure which is formed in suitable transportable sections.

The several components of a drilling rig are desirably transportable in sections which comply with state laws as to size and which :are capable of being carried on a tractor and lowboy trailer. In very large rigs the substructure, drawworks, and drive means therefor are conventionally carried as separate items.

It is an object of this invention to provide a substructure for a drilling rig in which the substructure is broken into sections which can be transported on trucks over state highways, and in which the drawworks and driving means therefor are a permanent part of the several substructure sections.

Anot-her object is to provide a substructure in which the drawworks skid provides a part of the substructure and the motor means for the drawworks is mounted in other parts of the substructure with the drawworks and its associated skid transportable as a section and the other sections of the substructure with motor drives therein transportable as sections.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings, the specification and the claims.

Description of the drawings In the drawings, wherein like numerals indicate like parts, and wherein an illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown:

FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation of a fragment of the drilling rig;

FIGURE 2 is a view of a portion of the substructure of the drilling rig with a motor and its associated equipment all viewed in side elevation and mounted on a trailer for transporting;

FIGURE 3 is a view in elevation of the drawworks of this invention being transported on a trailer;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing in side elevation the opposite side section of the substructure on a trailer for transporting;

FIGURE 5 is a birds eye view of :a fragment of the substructure showing the two side sections releasably interconnected by the drawworks section;

FIGURE 6 is a rear view in elevation of the substructure again showing the two side sections releasably interconnected by the drawworks section; and

FIGURE 7 is a birds eye line drawing of the substructure.

Preferred embodiment The drilling rig illustrated may be considered to be composed of a three piece substructure provided by two integral substantially parallel spaced apart side sections 10 and 11 and a third section 12 which extends transversely of the side sections. A conventional drilling mast, the lower section 13 of which is shown, is supported on the substructure together with additional superstructure indicated generally at 14, the component parts of which form no part of this invention and are conventional and well known.

The two side sections 10 and 11 are mirror images of each other, and only one will be described. The side section 10 is made up of structural members including a base skid 15, top cord 16, and structural member 17, all suitably fastened together by columns 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24, together with diagonals 25, 26, 27 and 28. The structure shown is generally box-like in configuration and, as will be seen from FIGURE 5, the structural members 16, etc., have substantially identical counterparts which are inboard from those shown in FIGURE 2.. For instance, the top cord 16 has a counterpart 16a shown in FIGURE 5. It will be understood that, while the substructure side section is fabricated of structural members to support the drilling mast and other structure, that the substructure could take any appropriate configuration which in width and length and height can be transported on a lowboy within the usual road limits of safety and clearance.

The drawworks indicated gene-rally at 12 may be of any desired type. The drawworks 12 is supported on skid 29 of spaced I-beams connected together by structural members. No separate drawworks skid is required. The skid 29 functions as a drawworks skid and as a part of the substructure. The drawworks supports the uprights 30 and 31 which support a horizontal truss of members 32, 33, 34 and 35. Thus, in the preferred embodiment the drawworks 12 is mounted on a skid which is :a part of the substructure and preferably additional structural members are provided which may be supported by the drawworks and provide :a part of the substructure to provide a transverse drawworks section.

From FIGURES 5 and 6 it will be noted that means are provided for releasably interconnecting the two side sections 10 and 11 with the transverse drawworks section. These interconnecting means may be provided by the bolts and nuts 36 and 37 between the skids of the three components and bolts and nuts 38, 39, 41 and 42 interconnecting the upper structural members of the transverse section with the two side sections.

Motor means 43 and 44 provide power for the drawworks. These motor means may assume any desired form. The motor means are each permanently mounted in their respective side sections, and means (not shown) are provided for interconnecting the motor means and drawworks to provide motor power to the drawworks. In accordance with one form of this invention, the motor means 43 and 44 may be electric motors which receive their power from generators not shown.

At the end of the substructure remote from the drawworks 12, a suitable spreader bar 45 is provided to tie the ends of the two side sections together. It will be noted from FIGURE 7 that a large rectangular space is provided through which the usual drilling operations are carried out.

3 From FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that the two side sections 10 and 11 and the transverse section 12 can be separately carried each on a lowboy trailer. It will be noted that the drawworks and the two drive means are carried on their associated skids which form a part of the substructure, and each is transported as a unit with the respective section of the substructure.

It will be appreciated that the drawworks is normally skid-mounted, and thus the drawworks skid serves the dual purpose of supporting the drawworks and providing a structural member for holding the two side sections on which the drilling mast 13 is located in spaced relationship.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof and various changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in the details of the illustrated construction, may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A drilling rig comprising:

two integral substantially parallel spaced apart substructure side sections of structural members having means for supporting legs of a drilling mast,

a transverse substructure section of structural members extending between and releasably interconnecting the two parallel side sections adjacent one end thereof,

spreader means extending between and releasably interconnecting the two parallel side sections at points spaced from said transverse section,

a drawworks supported on the transverse section,

and motor means supported in each side section and connected to the drawworks for driving same, said transverse and side sections providing a substructure transportable in integral sections with the motor means and drawworks transportable in their respective supporting sections.

2. A drilling rig comprising:

two integral substantially parallel spaced apart substructure side sections of structural members having means for supporting legs of a drilling mast,

a drawworks mounted on a skid extending between the side sections adjacent one end thereof,

said skid releasably interconnecting the two parallel side sections,

spreader means extending between and releasably interconnecting the two parallel side sections at points spaced from said skid,

and motor means supported in each side section and connected to the drawworks for driving same,

said drawworks skid and side sections providing a substructure transportable in integral sections with each motor means transportable in its respective section and the drawworks transportable on its skid.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,345,253 3/1944 Funk 254l39 X 2,594,847 4/1952 Bates et al. 17328 X 2,817,495 12/1957 Pearl 173-28 X FOREIGN PATENTS 510,173 2/1955 Canada.

CHARLES E. OCONNELL, Primary Examiner.

IAN A. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner. 

